Drawer latch device for filing cabinets



June 1969 MICHIHARU 'rA zAKl 3,450,453

I DRAWER LATCH DEVICE FOR FILING CABINETS Filed Aug. 5, 1967 Sheet June 17, 1969 MICHIHARU TAZAKI 3,450,453

DRAWER LATCH DEVICE FOR FILING CABINETS Sheet Filed Aug. 3, 1967 June 17, 1969 I MICHIHARU TAZAKI 3,450,453

DRAWER LATCH DEVICE FOR FILING CABINETS Filed Aug. 5, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 sum" June 17, 1969 MICHIHARU TAZAKI 3,450,453

DRAWER LATCH DEVICE FOR FILING CABINETS Filed Aug. 5, 19s? Sheet 4 o! 4 J52 .Zj

Wm" M *"miWW I U United States Patent Q US. Cl. 312-222 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a drawer latch device for filing cabinets including a swingable lever plate depending toward the inner upper edge of a pull pocket provided in the front surface of the drawer end plate, and a latch member projecting toward the drawer side to engage and disengage with extended parts provided on the front reinforcing frame on the cabinet side, and wherein said lever plate and said latch member are respectively provided with the links the tips of which are associated with each other whereby, when finger tips are inserted into the pull pocket of drawer for pulling out the drawer from the cabinet, the lever plate is pressed simultaneously to swing for operating the latch member through the links associated therewith and the drawer is pulled out of the cabinet with a single action of hand while said latch member is released from the cutout parts on the cabinet side.

In the known device of this type, a handle C is fixed to the front side of the end plate B of drawer A, as shown in FIG. 15, and a laterally slidable knob D is provided in the said handle C. A bent bar E is fitted at the tip to the knob D, and a spring F is fitted between the end plate B and the bent bar E so that the bent bar E can be kept urged toward one direction (rightwardly as viewed in FIG. 15) by the recovery force of the spring F thereby to bring the latch G into and out of engagement with an extended part J formed on the front reinforcing frame I on the side of the cabinet H. With such construction, when the drawer A is to be pulled out of the cabinet H, the handle C is moved laterally by finger tips to push the knob D against the force of spring F for releasing the latch G at the tip of the bent bar E from the extended part I on a side of the cabinet H. Then the handle C is pulled toward the operator to enable the drawer A to be moved out of the cabinet H.

Although the known drawer latch device is advantageously simple in construction, it has drawbacks in that, when the drawer A is to be pulled out of the cabinet H, double operations of the release of latch and pulling out of drawer are needed thus making it impossible to pull out the drawer in a single action, and furthermore, a loud noise is produced in releasing the latch for the steel construction.

With some drawer latch devices of known type, both operations of latch releasing and drawer pulling can be performed in a single step of action. However, even such devices have disadvantages that they are very intricate in construction and need a large number of components.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an improved drawer latch device very simple in construction and having a minimum number of component parts, in which both of the latch releasing operation and the drawer pulling operation can be performed in a single action. This can be attained by providing, in accordance with the invention, links respectively to a swingable lever plate depending toward the inner upper peripheral edge of a pull pocket formed in the front surface of drawer end plate and a latch member projecting toward the drawer to engage and disengage with extended pieces provided on the front reinforcing frame on the cabinet side, and associating the tips of said links each other. Moreover, a noiseless operation for releasing latch can be accomplished according to the invention.

This invention resides in certain construction and arrangement of component parts. The other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description on a perferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the whole of a filing cabinet according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the front part of drawer viewed from behind;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the front part of drawer viewed from behind, with the back plate on the rear side of drawer end plate removed for convenience to illustrate the latch device;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the lever plate and the latch member in the latch device, with the operative positions thereof illustrated by phantom lines;

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along the line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the link on latch member;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the drawer front part, with the end plate, latch member and the like removed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a part of FIG. 7 in a larger scale;

FIG. 9 is a front view of drawer illustrating the latch device therewithin, with a part of end plate broken away;

FIG. 10 is a transverse plan view of the front part of drawer;

FIG. 11 is a transverse plan view showing a part of FIG. 10 in a larger scale;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the front part of drawer illustrating the latch device by breaking away certain parts of the end plate and back plate;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the latch member;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the latch member; and

FIG. 15 is a transverse plan view showing a latch device of known type.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Now referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the whole of a filing cabinet 20 having a latch device according to the invention. As apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4, this latch device comprises the lever plate 21 and the latch member 22, and which lever plate 21 is provided in the upper central part of the back side of end plate 24 in the drawer body 23, while the latch member 22 is arranged to project outwardly from the central part of the back side of the end plate 24.

To mount the lever plate 21 swingably at the upper central part of the back side of end plate 24, a bearing plate 26 having its both ends turned up at right angles as the bearings 26ais fixed to the upper central portion of the inner surface of back plate 25 secured to the back of the end plate 24, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 12.

The bearing plate 26 may also be fixed to the back side of end plate 24. However, when the bearing plate 26 is secured to the back side of end plate 24 as by welding or riveting, an undesirable effect is often brought about on the external appearance of end plate 24. For this reason, if the bearing plate 26 is to be secured by welding or riveting, it is preferred to secure it on a side of back 3 plate 25, as shown in FIG. 12, rather than on the end plate 24.

One end of link 27, which forms a crank-like portion 27a between the bearings 26a, passes through said bearings 26a. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper peripheral fold 21a of lever plate 21 fits on crank-like portion 27a, and the screws 28 threaded in the lever plate 21 at the both ends of the crank-like portion 27a connect said lever plate 21 to the link 27. The lower peripheral fold 21b of lever plate 21 bent forwardly at right angles is exposed from the upper peripheral edge of pull pocket 29 formed in the end plate 24, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 12.

Thus, it will be understood that, if finger tips are inserted into the pull pocket 29 from the outside with the palm facing upwardly and the pocket 29 is pulled toward the operator, the lever plate 21 rotates with the link 27 as the finger tips touch said plate 21, and the other depending end 27b of link 27 which is bent at right angles begins a forward movement.

The latch member 22 constituting the other component of the latch device according to the invention is rotatably mounted in the device on the side of the drawer body 23 in such manner as to project outwardly from the central part of one back side of the end plate 24. On the front peripheral edge of drawer body 23 are provided bent engagers 23a, 23b, and 23c for engaging with the end plate 24. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, three horizontally extended pieces 30, 31, and 32 are vertically provided in a suitably spaced relation on the side of the bent engager 23a which is the front peripheral edge of one side plate of drawer. The apertures 33, 34, and 35 are respectively provided centrally of each one of the extended pieces 30, 31, and 32. The apertures 33 and 34 in the upper two extended pieces 30 and 31 have the opposed notches 33a and 34a at their periphery.

The latch member 22 is wholly formed by a plastic material. In the base 22a of latch member 22 is provided a hole 36 extending axially therethrough and the opposed notches 36a are arranged on the upper periphery of the hole 36, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

The latch member 22 is formed with a hook 37 at its tip and a projection 38 for engaging with the spring at its back. The base 22a of latch member 22 is fitted between the extended pieces 31 and 32 with the hole 36 in the base 22a set in registry with the apertures 34 and 35 of extended pieces 31 and 32. Then, the link 39 is inserted downwardly from above through the aperture 33 of extended piece 30, aperture 34 of extended piece 31, hole 36 in base 22a of latch member 22, and aperture 35 of extended piece 32.

The link 39 has the projections 40 intermediate its length, as shown in FIG. 6. When the link 39 is inserted as described above, the projections 40 pass through the notches 33a and 34a provided on the periphery of the apertures 33 and 34 in extended pieces 30 and 31, and fit into the notches 36a on the periphery of the hole 36 in latch member 22 to connect together the link 39 and the latch member 22. Thus, the latch member 22 together with the link 39 is rotatably and pivotally supported relative to the extended pieces 30, 31, and 32. And when the link 39 is rotated, it cannot slip out of position by the operation of the projection 40.

With this arrangement, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper part of the link 39 extends laterally and horizontally to form a horizontal portion 39a which is in contact with the tip of link 27 connecting the same to the lever plate 21. FIG. 4 illustrates this relationship. One end of the spring 41 is secured at the projection 38 on the back of latch member 22 and the other end engages with a side plate of drawer body 23.

The latch member 22 is pressed outwardly by the action for stability of spring 41. With such spring stability, the tip of the depending portion 27a of link 27 is also pressed through the tip of the horizontal portion 39a of link 39 to urge the link 27 on the inner surface of back plate 25:

As will be best understood from FIGS. 3 and l1,' the latch member 22 has its tip protruding rearward along the drawer body 23 from the opening 42 provided on the back side of the peripheral edge 24a of end plate 24. The hook 37 at the tip of latch member 22 is adapted to engage and disengage with the extended piece 45 arranged on the front reinforcing frame 44 of cabinet 43.

The operation of the latch device in accordance with the invention will be described hereunder.

To pull out the drawer locked in the cabinet by the latch device according to the invention, finger tips are inserted, with the palm facing upwardly, into the pull pocket 29 recessed in the end plate 24 of drawer. If the finger tips are bent upwardly and pulled toward the operator, the finger tips touch the lever plate 21 depending toward the inner upper peripheral edge of pull pocket 29 to rotate the lever plate 21 together with the link 27. Then, the tip of the depending portion 27b at the other end of link 27 begins to move forwardly for pressing the tip of the horizontal portion 39a of link 39 connecting the same to the latch member 22. As a result, the link 39 begins a rotational movement about the horizontally extended pieces 30, 31, and 32 provided on the side of drawer body 23, and the latch member 22 connected to the link 39 retracts while rotating inwardly against the force of spring 41. Then, the hook 37 at the tip of latch member 22 is released from the extended piece 45 on the side of cabinet 43.

Therefore, if the finger tips inserted in the pull pocket 29 are pulled toward the operator under this condition, the drawer 23 can be smoothly taken out of the cabinet 43. Thus, by utilizing the latch device according to the invention, the latch releasing and pulling out operations of drawer can be performed in a single action.

In bringing the drawer 23 back into the cabinet 43, it sufiices to simply push the drawer on the front surface of the end plate 24 by hand. With the movement of drawer, the tip of latch member 22 strikes against the extended piece 45 on the side of cabinet 43, and the latch member 22 is forced by the extended piece 45 to rotate inwardly against the spring 41. After passing through the extended piece 45, the latch member 22 again rotates outwardly by virtue of the stability of spring 41, and the hook 37 at the tip of latch member 22 engages with the extended piece 45 on the side of cabinet 43 for locking the drawer in the cabinet.

Thus, it will be understood that the object of the invention is accomplished in the foregoing way, and that a simple and inexpensive drawer latch device is provided in which the drawer body 23 can be pulled out or pushed back into the cabinet 43 in a single step of action and the noise upon latching and unlatching can be completely eliminated. It also will be easily understood that this drawer latch device is most suitable for use with the filing cabinets.

Although the description and illustration have been made on a preferred embodiment of the invention, it must be understood that this invention will not be limited to the embodiment described and illustrated herein and changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art by resorting to their conventional means without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A container such as a filing cabinet, having at least one drawer mounted thereon, handle means mounted on said drawer and adapted for limited movement in relation to said drawer and for pulling said drawer outwardly of said container, crank link means, having one end thereof secured to said handle means for moving therewith and another end spaced from said handle means, a latch means operating member mounted on said drawer and movable between two positions, and having an arm adapted for operation by said other end of said crank link means, latch means on said latch operating member, spring means for biasing said latch means operating member into one of said positions, latch locking means mounted on said container adapted to hold the said latch means in said first position of the latch operating member for locking said drawer to said container, whereby a pulling force exerted on said handle means for pulling said drawer outwardly of said container is adapted to turn said crank link means allowing the other end of said crank link means to move the latch means operating member against the bias of the spring means to move said latch means from the latch locking means to unlock said drawer.

2. A container, according to claim 1, comprising a turnable swing plate means interposed between said handle means and said crank link means.

3. A container, according to claim 1, wherein the said crank link means consists of a rod bent substantially at right angles.

4. A container, according to claim 1, wherein the latch means operating member comprises a rod bent at right angles, the latch means being secured to that said operating member and movable therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,936,818 11/1933 Bales et al 312222 3,122,402 2/ 1964 Bullock et a1. 3 l6-220 3,189,938 6/1965 Saunders 116-126 3,193,342 7/1965 Sauter 312320 3,223,466 12/1965 Roberts 312-320 3,292,985 12/1966 Buhrmaster 312-320 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

